At stake in this election:

• 120 seats in the Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: King LETSIE III
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI
• Assembly: Lesotho has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate with 33 seats and the Assembly with 80 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The King is hereditary N/A.
• In the Senate 33 members are appointed *. In the Assembly, 80 members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 40 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

* In the Senate, the ruling party appoints 11 Senators and 22 principal chiefs are members.

** The size of the Parliament has been increased to 120 seats for this election

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)
  • Leader: Pakilitha Mosisili
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 77
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 79
• Party: Basotho National Party (BNP)
  • Leader: Justine Metsing LEKHANYA
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 21
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 1
• Party: Lesotho People's Congress (LPC)
  • Leader: Kelebone MAOPE
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 5
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: N/A
• Party: National Independent Party (NIP)
  • Leader: A. MANYELI
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 5
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 0
• Party: Basotho Congress Party (BCP)
  • Leader: Tseliso MAKHAKHE
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 3
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 0
• Party: Basutoland African Congress (BAC)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 3
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: N/A
• Party: Other Parties
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 4
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: N/A

Last Parliamentary election:

• Parliamentary elections were last held May 23, 1998.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 1,885,488 (2002)
• Registered Voters: 831,315 (2002)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 971,018 (2002)

·         Is Lesotho a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Lesotho ratified CEDAW: Yes (22 August 1995)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 16 (following the 2002 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 161 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Lesotho  a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Lesotho ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (2 December 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 282,823 (est.)